As promised, here’s a summary of our experience at the World of Learning 2023. But, of course, you know how we work and wouldn’t expect us to share our thoughts without a metaphor, would you? So in true Archetypical form, let us take you on a tour of our days at the World of Learning as if it were a beautiful Victorian Manor House.

So if the conference were a Victorian Manor House, let us describe some of the rooms we visited.

The first reception room focused on making learning stick like glue. According to David Sales from Emergenetics, UK companies spent a massive £500 million on Learning and Development last year. But most of it ends up as clutter in the attics of our brains. David’s tip: trim the fat and tailor learning to suit the learner’s taste buds, preventing the cognitive overload maze. He gave us the AGES model, where attention, generating insights, emotions, and spaced learning and repetition are the pillars of successful learning – a bit like the intricate details on the manor’s walls.

In the next room, the Great Hall, we met Fergus Flanagan and Neb MacIver, the learning magicians. They had one word – confidence! They schooled us on quality born from quantity, and how us humans are suckers for a bit of mystery. It’s like the grandeur of Victorian craftsmanship – the more you delve, the richer the treasure trove.

Then, we stepped into the kitchen, the domain of the ‘Learning Pirate’ Lauren Waldman. She shared swashbuckling secrets of the mystical world of neuroscience. She wanted us to shake out the energy, yell a bit for the adrenaline rush, and find focus in visual moments. It was like uncovering hidden spices at the back of the cupboard of our brains; reminding us that behavior change takes time, multiple inputs, and new mental blueprints. (Music to our Plan-Learn-Do repeat ears!)

But that’s not all! How do you get from kitchen ingredients to results? Our Victorian mansion has a dumbwaiter to deliver. Nowadays, we have something different to do the heavy lifting: guru Stella Collins joined forces with AI to show how artificial intelligence can do lots of heavy lifting for us and free up our time and resources (and our clients!) so we can focus on the fascinating complex contradictory universe of humans.

And let’s not forget one last room – the garden of diversity and inclusion. Lou Banks from Rising Vibe passionately told us to wake up to what it’s like to be on the fringes, how painful constant marginalization can be, and what we can all do about it. This theme echoed throughout the conference, like a renovation project in our manor; it is imperative that we all make the workplace an inclusive place.

Remember our blog on inclusion and diversity? It was great to find resonance to our journey, our own experiences, and what we’ve learned in five years of working with our amazing clients. The conference has lit a fire under us to continue designing genuinely inclusive sessions with and for them; it’s like a fresh coat of paint throughout our grand educational manor. If you want to know more or wish to book a private tour of our imaginarium, please get in touch.